Now Rebekah had a brother named Laban, who ran out to the man and met him at the spring.

"Come on," Laban said. "The LORD has blessed you! So why are you standing out here when I've prepared some space in the house and a place for the camels?"

But when they had prepared a meal and set it in front of him, he said, "I'm not eating until I've spoken." "Speak up!" Laban exclaimed.

"Since this has come from the LORD," Laban and Bethuel both replied, "we cannot speak one way or another.

Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.

Son, you'd better do what I say! Get up, run off to my brother Laban in Haran,

Instead, get up, travel to Paddan-aram, and visit the household of Bethuel, your mother's father. Marry one of Laban's daughters, since he's your mother's brother.

So Isaac sent Jacob off toward Paddan-aram to visit Bethuel's son Laban, the Aramean and brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

"Do you happen to know Nahor's son Laban?" he inquired. "We do," they replied.

When Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of Laban, his mother's brother, accompanied by Laban's sheep, Jacob approached the well, rolled the stone from the opening of the well, and then watered his mother's brother Laban's flock.

When Laban heard the news about his sister's son Jacob, he ran out to meet him. He embraced him, kissed him, and brought him back to his house. Then Jacob told Laban about everything that had happened.

Laban responded, "You certainly are my flesh and blood!" So Jacob stayed with him for about a month.

Later, Laban asked Jacob, "Should you serve me for free, just because you're my nephew? Let's talk about what your wages should be."

Now Laban happened to have two daughters. The older one was named Leah and the younger was named Rachel.

Jacob loved Rachel, so he made this offer to Laban: "I'll serve you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter."

"It's better that I give her to you than to another man," Laban replied, "so stay with me."

Eventually, Jacob told Laban, "Bring me my wife, now that my time of service has been completed, so I can go be with her."

So Laban gathered all the men who lived in that place and held a wedding festival.

That night Laban took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob. He had marital relations with her.

Laban also gave his servant woman Zilpah to Leah to be her maidservant.

The next morning, Jacob realized that it was Leah! "What have you done to me?" he demanded of Laban. "Didn't I serve you for seven years in order to marry Rachel? Why did you deceive me?"

But Laban responded, "It's not the practice of our place to give the younger one in marriage before the firstborn.

So Jacob completed another seven years' work, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife.

Laban also gave his woman servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her maidservant.

Jacob also married Rachel, since he loved her. He served Laban another full seven years' work for Rachel.

After Rachel had given birth to Joseph, Jacob told Laban, "Send me off so that I can go back to my place and country.

Then Laban responded, "If I've found favor in your sight, please stay with me, because I've learned through divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you.

But Jacob replied to Laban, "You know how I've served you and how your cattle thrived under my care.

"What do I have to give you?" Laban asked.

"Okay," Laban replied. "We'll do it the way you've asked."

That very day, Laban removed the male goats that were striped or spotted, all the female goats that were speckled or spotted that is, every one that had white on them and all the black lambs and placed them into the care of his sons.

Meanwhile, Jacob kept tending the rest of Laban's flock. Jacob took branches from white poplar trees, freshly cut almond trees, and some other trees, stripped off their bark to make white streaks, and uncovered the white part inside the branches.

Jacob kept the lambs separate, facing the striped and entirely black ones that belonged to Laban's flock. He set his own herd by itself and would not let them be with Laban's flock.

But he didn't put the branches in front of any of the feeble members of the flock. As a result, the feeble ones belonged to Laban, but the stronger ones belonged to Jacob.

Now Jacob used to listen while Laban's sons kept on complaining, "Jacob has taken over everything our father owns! He made himself wealthy from what belongs to our father!"

Jacob also noticed that the way Laban had been looking at him wasn't as nice as it had been just two days earlier.

"When Laban said, "The speckled ones will be your wages,' then all the flock gave birth to speckled ones. Then when he said, "The streaked ones will be your wages,' all the flock gave birth to streaked offspring.

""Look around!' he said. "Go ahead, look! All the male goats have been mating with the flock, producing offspring that are streaked, speckled, and spotted, because I've been watching everything that Laban has done to you.

Meanwhile, Laban had been out shearing his sheep. While he was away, Rachel stole her father's personal idols.

Moreover, Jacob had deceived Laban the Aramean, because he had never told him that he was intending to leave.

Three days later, somebody reported to Laban that Jacob had left,

so he took his relatives with him and pursued Jacob. Laban was on the road for seven days when he finally caught up with Jacob in the hill country of Gilead.

That night, God appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, "Be careful what you say to Jacob, whether it's one word good or bad."

Meanwhile, Jacob had pitched his tent on the mountain, where Laban had caught up with him. Laban and his relatives encamped on that same mountain in the hill country of Gilead, too.

Then Laban asked Jacob, "What did you do? You deceived me, carried off my daughters like you would war captives,

So Laban entered Jacob's tent, Leah's tent, and the tents of the two maid servants, but he didn't find them. Then he left Leah's tent and entered Rachel's tent.

Meanwhile, Rachel had taken the idols, placed them inside the saddle of her camel, and sat on them. Laban searched through the whole tent, but found nothing.

Then Rachel told her father, "Sir, please don't be angry that I cannot stand up in your presence. It's that time of the month." So Laban searched for the idols, but never did find them.

Then Jacob got angry and started an argument with Laban. "What have I done?" he demanded. "What's my crime that would cause you to come pursue me so violently?

But Laban answered Jacob, "These women are my daughters. These children are my children. The flocks are mine. In fact, everything that you see belongs to me. But what would I do today to my daughters and the children they have borne?

Laban named the place Jegar-sahadutha, but Jacob named it Galeed.

Then Laban said, "This stack will serve as a witness between you and me today." That's how the place came to be named Galeed.

It was also called Mizpah, because Laban said, "May the LORD watch between you and me, when we are estranged from each other.

"Look!" Laban added, "Here is the stack of stones and here is the pillar that I've set up between you and me.

Early the next morning, Laban woke up, kissed his grandchildren and daughters, blessed them, and then left for home.

He instructed them, "This is what you are to say to my master Esau: "Your servant Jacob told me to tell you, "I've journeyed to stay with Laban and I've remained there until now.

These were all sons from Zilpah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Leah. She bore these sixteen children for Jacob.

These were sons of Bilhah, whom Laban had given to his daughter Rachel. She bore these children for Jacob seven in all.